Methods and apparatuses for transmitting and receiving uplink information

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method and apparatus of transmitting uplink (UL) information and a method and apparatus of receiving UL information. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method of transmitting UL information comprises transmitting a reference signal using a first sequence; and transmitting UL control information using a second sequence; wherein a reference signal and the UL control information are staggered-multiplexed in frequency domain. With embodiments of the present disclosure, the uplink information can be transmitted in reduced uplink symbols so as to adapt for a proposed subframe structure with reduced uplink symbols and thus, the transmission latency can be reduced greatly.

CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/777,499, filed Jan. 30, 2020, which is a Continuation Application ofU.S. application Ser. No. 16/234,027, filed Dec. 27, 2018, which is aContinuation of U.S. application Ser. 16/066,533, filed Jun. 27, 2018,which is a National Stage Application No. PCT/CN2015/100194 filed Dec.31, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to wirelesscommunication techniques and more particularly relate to a method andapparatus for transmitting uplink (UL) information and a method andapparatus for receiving UL information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In an existing wireless communication, a subframe comprises 2 slots eachincluding seven symbols. As illustrated in FIG. 1, all seven symbols ina slot can be used as UL symbols for Physical Uplink Control Channel(PUCCH) transmission, Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) transmission,and etc. The PUCCH is UL channel which carries uplink controlinformation, such as ACK/NACK, Channel Quality Indicator (CQI),Pre-coding Matrix Indicator (PMI), (Rank Indicator) RI, etc. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, three middle symbols are used to transit DMRS andother symbols are used to transmit PUCCH symbols.

Usually, after a symbol is transmitted, the ACK/NACK will be received onthe PUCCH before further four symbols are transmitted, which means asubstantial latency. In order to reduce the latency, the number of ULsymbols is proposed to be reduced. In future 5 Generation (5G)communication, a frame structure of only one or several symbols is evenproposed for latency reduction, which means there is only one symbol orseveral symbols for UL transmission. For purpose of illustration, FIG. 2illustrates one of possible new subframe structures, in which there isonly one symbol for UL transmission. However, it shall be appreciatedthat in another possible new subframe structure, the symbol may also belocated in another position and/or it comprises more than one UL symbol.

Therefore, a new PUCCH channel structure and new UL informationtransmission solution are required so as to adapt for the framestructure with reduced UL symbols.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present disclosure, there is provided a new solution for ULinformation transmission and receiving to mitigate or at least alleviateat least part of the issues in the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda method of transmitting UL information. The method may comprisetransmitting a reference signal using a first sequence; and transmittingUL control information using a second sequence; wherein the referencesignal and the UL control information are staggered-multiplexed infrequency domain.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a methodof receiving UL information. The method may comprise receiving referencesignal transmitted using a first sequence; receiving control informationtransmitted using a second sequence; demodulating the controlinformation using the reference signal; and wherein the reference signaland the UL control information are staggered-multiplexed in frequencydomain.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided anapparatus for transmitting UL information. The apparatus may comprise areference signal transmission unit, configured for transmittingreference signal using a first sequence; and a control informationtransmission unit, configured for transmitting UL control informationusing a second sequence; wherein the reference signal and the UL controlinformation are staggered-multiplexed in frequency domain.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided anapparatus of receiving UL information. The apparatus may comprise areference signal receiving unit, configured for receiving referencesignal transmitted using a first sequence; a control informationreceiving unit, configured for receiving control information transmittedusing a second sequence; a demodulation unit, configured fordemodulating the control information using the reference signal; andwherein the reference signal and the UL control information arestaggered-multiplexed in frequency domain.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is alsoprovided a computer-readable storage media with computer program codeembodied thereon, the computer program code configured to, whenexecuted, cause an apparatus to perform actions in the method accordingto any embodiment in the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is furtherprovided a computer-readable storage media with computer program codeembodied thereon, the computer program code configured to, whenexecuted, cause an apparatus to perform actions in the method accordingto any embodiment in the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a computer program product comprising a computer-readablestorage media according to the fifth aspect.

According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a computer program product comprising a computer-readablestorage media according to the sixth aspect.

With embodiments of the present disclosure, it provides a new solutionfor UL transmission and receiving in which the uplink information can betransmitted in reduced uplink symbols so as to adapt for a subframestructure with reduced uplink symbols and thus, the transmission latencycan be reduced greatly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present disclosure will become moreapparent through detailed explanation on the embodiments as illustratedin the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings,throughout which like reference numbers represent same or similarcomponents and wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates UL symbols in the existing subframestructure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates one of possible UL symbols in newlyproposed subframe structure with reduced UL symbols;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates PUCCH patterns in the existingcommunication system;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates constellation mapping for HARQACK/NACK.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates UL information transmission in theexisting PUCCH format 1a/1b;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a base sequence for UL symbols;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates UL information transmission in theexisting PUCCH format 2a/2b;

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a method oftransmitting UL information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a diagram of DMRS and PUCCH informationtransmission in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates an example new PUCCH structure inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates another base sequence which can beused for the DMRS and PUCCH information in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates another new PUCCH structure inaccordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a further new PUCCH structure inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 14A to 14E schematically illustrates example multiplexing mannersof PUCCH and DMRS in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 15A to 15F schematically illustrate example resource mappingmanners in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16A-16D schematically illustrates example multiplexing manners ofPUCCH and DMRS in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 17A to 17D schematically illustrate example resource mappingmanners in accordance in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 18A to 18D schematically illustrate example resource mappingmanners for common expression in accordance in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 schematically illustrates a block diagram of DMRS and PUCCHinformation transmission in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 20 schematically illustrates a new PUCCH structure in accordancewith another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 schematically illustrates a corresponding relationship betweenthe modulation symbol and a sequence group in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 schematically illustrates constellation mapping in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 schematically illustrates cyclic-shift grouping in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 24 schematically illustrates ACH/NACK constellation mapping for oneof the example cyclic-shift grouping as illustrated in FIG. 21 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 25 schematically illustrates a further PUCCH structure inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 26A and 26B schematically illustrates another option for PUCCHdesign in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 27A and 27B schematically illustrates another possible UL regiondesigns in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 28A to 28C schematically illustrates another DMRS window design inaccordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 29 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a method of receivingUL information in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 30 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus fortransmitting UL information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 31 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus forreceiving UL information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 32 further illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus3310 that may be embodied as or comprised in UE and an apparatus 3320that may be embodied as or comprised in a base station in a wirelessnetwork as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the solution as provided in the present disclosure will bedescribed in details through embodiments with reference to theaccompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that these embodimentsare presented only to enable those skilled in the art to betterunderstand and implement the present disclosure, not intended to limitthe scope of the present disclosure in any manner.

In the accompanying drawings, various embodiments of the presentdisclosure are illustrated in block diagrams, flow charts and otherdiagrams. Each block in the flowcharts or blocks may represent a module,a program, or a part of code, which contains one or more executableinstructions for performing specified logic functions, and in thepresent disclosure, a dispensable block is illustrated in a dotted line.Besides, although these blocks are illustrated in particular sequencesfor performing the steps of the methods, as a matter of fact, they maynot necessarily be performed strictly according to the illustratedsequence. For example, they might be performed in reverse sequence orsimultaneously, which is dependent on natures of respective operations.It should also be noted that block diagrams and/or each block in theflowcharts and a combination of thereof may be implemented by adedicated hardware-based system for performing specifiedfunctions/operations or by a combination of dedicated hardware andcomputer instructions.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted accordingto their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitlydefined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the/said [element,device, component, means, step, etc.]” are to be interpreted openly asreferring to at least one instance of said element, device, component,means, unit, step, etc., without excluding a plurality of such devices,components, means, units, steps, etc., unless explicitly statedotherwise. Besides, the indefinite article “a/an” as used herein doesnot exclude a plurality of such steps, units, modules, devices, andobjects, and etc.

Additionally, in a context of the present disclosure, a user equipment(UE) may refer to a terminal, a Mobile Terminal (MT), a SubscriberStation (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station (PSS), Mobile Station (MS),or an Access Terminal (AT), and some or all of the functions of the UE,the terminal, the MT, the SS, the PSS, the MS, or the AT may beincluded. Furthermore, in the context of the present disclosure, theterm “BS” may represent, e.g., a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB(eNodeB or eNB), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), arelay, or a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so on.

As mentioned hereinabove, in existing subframe, all seven symbols in aslot can be used as UL symbols. Hereinafter, PUCCH patterns in theexisting communication will be first described with reference to FIGS. 3to 7, for a better understanding of the present disclosure.

Reference is first made to FIG. 3 which illustrates PUCCH patterns inthe existing communication system in more detail. In FIG. 3, there areillustrated UL subframe k and UL subframe k+8, and particularly in eachof the subframes, the PUCCHs are transmitted at edges of the systembandwidth and hopped in two slots.

In the existing communication, formats for the PUCCH comprise Format1a/1b and Format 2a/2b, wherein Format 1a/1b is used to transmitACK/NACK of one bit or two bits, and Format 2a/2b is used to transmituplink CQI and ACK/NACK of one bit or two bits. Usually, PUCCH bit suchas ACK/NACK bit is first modulated into ACK/NACK symbol throughconstellation mapping. For different modulation technologies, differentconstellation mapping are used. FIG. 4 schematically illustratesdifferent constellation mapping for HARQ ACK/NACK. As illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5, for Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), ACK=1 andDTX/NACK=0 are respectively mapped to −1 and +1; and for QuadraturePhase Shift Key (QPSK), (ACK/NACK)=11, (ACK/NACK)=00, (ACK/NACK)=10, and(ACK/NACK)=01 are mapped to +1, −1, +j, −j.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates UL information transmission in theexisting PUCCH format 1a/1b. As illustrated in FIG. 5, after modulatedinto ACK/NACK symbols through constellation mapping, ACK/NACK symbolswill be multiplied with a base sequence with a length of 12. The basesequence is illustrated in FIG. 6. The base sequence will be shifted byusing different cycle shift and further be multiplied with an OCCsequence, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The resulting signal will be furtherprocessed through Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) so as to formSingle-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols #0,#1, #5 and #6. On the other hand, the base sequence shifted by usingdifferent cycle shift will be multiplied with the OCC sequence and theresulting signals are processed by IFFT, thereby forming DM-RS symbols.In other word, the forming of DMRS and the PUCCH is substantiallysimilar except that no NACK symbol d₀ is multiplied for DM-RS symbols.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates PUCCH patterns in the existing PUCCHformat 2a/2b. The PUCCH pattern in FIG. 7 is similar to that asillustrated in FIG. 5, except that OCC sequence is not used and afterQPSK modulation, coded CSI bits (10 bits) are converted into five datad0 to d5 through a serial-to-parallel processing and PUCCH symbols andDMRS symbols have different positions.

As mentioned hereinbefore, in a case that reduced UL symbols are used,the existing PUCCH patterns cannot be used, and thus a new PUCCH designand new UL control information transmission and receiving solutions areprovided in the present disclosure, which will be described in detailwith reference to FIGS. 8 to 32.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a method oftransmitting UL information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 8, first at step 810, thereference signal is transmitted using a first sequence and step 820, theUL control information is transmitted using a second sequence andparticularly, the reference signal and the UL control information arestaggered-multiplexed in frequency domain.

For a better understanding of the present disclosure, FIG. 9 furtherillustrates a diagram of DMRS and PUCCH information transmission inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustratedin FIG. 9, for DMRS, a base sequence 1 with N-length is firsttransformed to R′₁ through transformation such as cyclic shifting orphase rotation and then is mapped to physical resources. At the sametime, the PUCCH information bits are first mapped to information symbolsthrough any of constellation mappings such as illustrated in FIG. 4.Then information symbols d_(i) are further multiplied with a sequenceR′₂ which is transformed from base sequence 2 with M-length, for examplecyclic shifted. Then the resulting Y is then mapped to physicalresources.

The PUCCH information will be transmitted with DMRS. When mapping toresource, the reference signal and the UL control information arestaggered-multiplexed in frequency domain, as illustrated in FIG. 10which illustrates an example new PUCCH structure in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 10, thePUCCH and the DMRS share the same base sequence with a length of 12, forexample as illustrated in FIG. 6. The PUCCH (for example ACK/NACK) bits{0, 1} are first modulated into PUCCH symbol after constellation mappingso as to obtain the PUCCH symbol d₀. The constellation mapping may beperformed in accordance with those illustrated in FIG. 4. The PUCCHsymbol is then modulated on the base sequence which is also used forDMRS. The PUCCH symbol Y_(n) modulated on the base sequence can beexpressed as:

Y _(n) =d ₀ ·R _(n) , n=0,1, . . . ,11

wherein Y_(n) indicates resulting symbol after modulation, d₀ indicatesthe PUCCH symbol after constellation mapping; and R_(n) indicates thebase sequence. Thus, for the PUCCH, the total number of resourceelements is 24.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates another base sequence which can beused for the DMRS and PUCCH information in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. The orthogonal sequences R_(n) (i)may be based on OCC/DFT sequence, it has a length of 6 and there are sixorthogonal sequences with an index ranging from 0 to 5. Thus, it isclear that, the sequence for DMRS and the PUCCH is not limited to thatillustrated in FIG. 6 or 11; in fact, any suitable sequence can be usedas long as the frequency orthogonality is ensured.

FIG. 12 illustrates another new PUCCH structure in accordance withanother embodiment of the present disclosure, which can be used with thebase sequence as illustrated in FIG. 11. As illustrated in FIG. 12, thePUCCH and the DMRS also share the same base sequence, but the basesequence has a length of 6, for example as illustrated in FIG. 11.Similarly, the PUCCH (for example ACK/NACK) bits {0, 1} are firstmodulated into PUCCH symbol after constellation mapping so as to obtainthe PUCCH symbol d₀. The constellation mapping may also be performed inaccordance with those illustrated in FIG. 4. The PUCCH symbol is thenmodulated on the base sequence with a length of 6. The PUCCH symbolY_(n) modulated on the base sequence

Y _(n) =d ₀ ·R _(n)(i), i=0,1, . . . ,5

can be expressed as:wherein Y_(n) indicates resulting symbol after modulation, d₀ indicatesthe PUCCH symbol after constellation mapping; and R_(n) (i) indicatesthe sequence with an index i, as illustrated in FIG. 11.

The PUCCH symbol will be transmitted with the DMRS andstaggered-multiplexed therewith in the frequency domain as illustratedin FIG. 12. Thus, in such a case, for the PUCCH, the total number ofresource elements is 12.

In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the DMRS uses thebase sequence with a length of 12, for example that illustrated in FIG.6; while the PUCCH uses a different sequence, for example thoseillustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a further newPUCCH structure in accordance with a further embodiment of the presentdisclosure, which can be used in the embodiment in which sequence withdifferent lengths are used. In such a case, the PUCCH symbol Y_(n)modulated on the base sequence can be expressed as:

Y _(n) =d ₀ ·S(i), i=0,1, . . . ,5

wherein Y_(n) indicates resulting symbol after modulation, d₀ indicatesthe PUCCH symbol after constellation mapping; and S(i) indicates thebase sequence with an index i for the PUCCH, as illustrated in FIG. 11.In this case, for the PUCCH, two PUCCH symbols will be transmitted withthe DMRS and staggered-multiplexed therewith and the total number ofresource elements is 24.

Therefore, in FIG. 9, the two base sequences R₁ and R₂ as illustratedcan be the same sequence. For example, the PUCCH can use the basesequence for DMRS as illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 11. In addition, thebase sequence R₁ and the base sequence R₂ can share the base sequence.As another option, the two basis sequence can be different ones. Forexample, the base sequence R₂ may be different root sequence of the basesequence R₁. In addition, two base sequences R₁ and R₂ can have samelengths i.e., M=N; it may or different lengths, i.e., M≠N. The sequenceR′₁ for DMRS (the first sequence) can be the same as the base sequenceR₁, or the sequence R′₁ can be transformed from the base sequence R₁through cyclic shift or phase rotation.

The sequence R′₂ for modulating PUCCH symbol (the second sequence) canbe the same as the base sequence R₂, or the sequence R′₁ can betransformed from the base sequence R₁ through cyclic shift or phaserotation.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the PUCCH and the RS can bestagger-multiplexed in many different manners. For a purpose ofillustration, FIGS. 14A to 14E illustrate several example multiplexingmanners in the frequency domain. As illustrated in FIG. 14A, the RS andPUCCH can be staggered-multiplexed every RE, that is to say, one RS isfor one PUCCH. In FIG. 14B, the RS and PUCCH can bestaggered-multiplexed every k REs, that is to say, one RS is for kPUCCHs, wherein c_(i) and d_(m) are modulated symbols which can comefrom the same UE or different UE. FIG. 14C illustrates another examplemultiplexing manners, which is similar to that in FIG. 14B, but in FIG.14C, the PUCCHs are not continuous in frequency but separated by theDMRS. FIG. 14D further illustrates a further example multiplexingmanner, in which the RS and the PUCCH use sequences with differentlengths and wherein one PUCCH uses one RS. FIG. 14E illustrates afurther example multiplexing manners in accordance with a furtherembodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 14E, the PUCCHs are notseparated by any DMRS but continuous in frequency, which means DMRSs arealso continuous in frequency.

Hereinafter, for a purpose of illustration, common expression for one ULsymbol transmission will be described wherein d_(mn) (m>=0, n>=0)denotes the modulated symbol of information bit. For a given m or n, thesymbols can be same, that is to say,

     d? = d?  or  d? = d??indicates text missing or illegible when filed

In addition, symbols can also have different phase rotation, i.e.,

     d? = e?  ?  d?  or  d?e?  ?  d??indicates text missing or illegible when filed

The symbols can have different orders. For example, one has anincreasing order, and the other has a decreasing order, as illustratedin the following:

     d 00 = d?, d 01 = d 1n − 1, ? d 0n = d 10.?indicates text missing or illegible when filed

Alternatively, the symbols can also be totally different.

For RS sequence R_(mn) (m>=0, n>=0), the sequence can also be same for agiven m or n. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the RSsequence R_(mn) can be different for a given m or n. Besides, thesymbols may also be based on the same base sequence and have differentphase rotation or cycle shift values.

FIGS. 15A to 15F schematically illustrate example resource mappingmanners in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 15A, both DMRS sequences and the modulated PUCCHbased on the sequence are mapped in sequence, i.e. the modulated PUCCHsymbols are mapped in an order of d₀₀, d₀₁ . . . d_(0n), d₁₀, d₁₁, . . .d_(1n), . . . d_(m0), d_(m1), . . . d_(mn) and the DMRS sequences aremapped in order of R₀₀, R₀₁ . . . R_(0n), R₁₀, R₁₁, . . . R_(1n), . . .d_(m0), d_(m1), . . . d_(mn). While in FIG. 15B, the DMRS sequences andthe modulated PUCCH based on the sequence are mapped from edges of band.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, PUCCH with DMRS can be locatedon the physical resource blocks (PRB) with a pre-determined order inpre-defined RBs. For example, different PUCCH symbols can be located indifferent PRBs as illustrated in FIG. 15C. PUCCH symbols can be mappedon both edges of the system band for frequency diversity, as illustratedin FIG. 15D. In FIG. 15D, DMRS R₀ and PUCCH d₀*R′₁ are mapped to a firstedge of the system band; DMRS R₁ and the PUCCH d₁*R′₁ are mapped to asecond edge of the system band, DMRS R₂ and the PUCCH d₂*R′₂ are mappedto the first edge of the remaining system band, DMRS R₃ and the PUCCHd₃*R′₃ are mapped to the second edge of the remaining system, and so on.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, duplicates of PUCCHwith DMRS can be located on PRBs. For example, as illustrated in FIG.15E, DMRS R₀₀, R₁₀, to R_(m0) and PUCCH d₀*R′₀₀, d₁*R′₁₀, tod_(m)*R′_(m0) are first mapped on a first edge of the system band, DMRSR₀₁, R₁₁, to R_(m1) and PUCCH d₀*R′₀₁, d₁*R′₁₁, to d_(m)*R′_(m1) arethen mapped from the second opposite edge of the system band, and so on.Besides, FIG. 15F also illustrates another resource mapping manner, DMRSR₀₀, R₁₀, to R_(m0) and PUCCH d₀*R′₀₀, d₁*R′₁₀, to d_(m)*R′_(m0) arefirst mapped from on a first edge of the system band which is similar toFIG. 15E, DMRS R_(m1), R_(m-11), to R₀₁ and PUCCH d₀*R′₀₁, d₁*R′_(m-1),to d_(m)*R′₀₁ are then mapped from the second opposite edge of thesystem band which is in a different order from FIG. 15E, and so on.Besides, the duplicates of PUCCH in different PRBS can also be locatedon PRBs in a way as illustrated in FIG. 15A or 15B.

It shall also be notice that the mapping order (e.g. hopping) can bechanged with a pre-defined order in different symbols/subframe/PRBs.

Hereinbefore, the present disclosure is mainly described with referenceto one UL symbol design. In fact, it can also be used in a frame designwith L UL symbols, which means the subframe can have reduced UL symbolbut the number of UL symbols is larger than 1.

For each of the L UL symbols, the PUCCH and DMRS can bestaggered-multiplexed in the same way, for example as illustrated inFIG. 16A. Or alternatively, there may be hopping in two symbols asillustrated in FIG. 16B. In addition, for M(1=<M<=L) symbols within theL symbols, PUCCH and RS sequence can be staggered-multiplexed every oneore more RE in frequency; other (L-K) symbols, can all be used forPUCCH, as illustrated in FIG. 16C.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the PUCCH and RSsequence can be staggered-multiplexed in time. In other words, M(1<=M<=L) symbols can be used for RS (can be contiguous or staggered),others can be used for PUCCH as illustrated in FIG. 16D.

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate the mapping of PUCCH and RS in sequence andFIGS. 17C and 17D illustrate the mapping of PUCCH and DMRS from theedges of the system band. From FIGS. 17A and 17B, it can be seen thatfor L UL symbols, PUCCH and DMRS can be multiplexed in time and belocated on PRBs with predetermined order. For example, the PUCCH withDMRS can be mapped in sequence as illustrated in FIG. 17A or mapped fromboth edges of the system band as illustrated in FIG. 17C. Moreover, theduplicates of PUCCH with DMRS can also be located on PRBs. As anotheralternative, PUCCH and DMRS may be hopped in symbols as illustrated inFIGS. 17B and 17D. In addition, only for a purpose of illustration,FIGS. 18A to 18D illustrate the mapping of PUCCH and DMRS in sequenceand from the edges of the system band for common expression.

FIG. 19 schematically illustrates a block diagram of DMRS and PUCCHinformation transmission in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, thePUCCH information symbols are not modulated based on the second sequencebut are indicated by the relationship between the first sequence and thesecond sequence to be transmitted. As illustrated in FIG. 19, for DMRS,a base sequence 1 with N-length is first transformed to R′₁ throughtransformation such as cyclic shifting or phase rotation and then ismapped to physical resources. At the same time, the PUCCH informationbits are first mapped to information symbols through any ofconstellation mappings such as illustrated in FIG. 4. A sequence R′₂ istransformed from base sequence 2 with M-length, for example is a cyclicshifted or phase-rotated sequence from base sequence 2. Then theresulting sequence R′₂ is then mapped to physical resources. In thissolution, the information symbols d_(i) are not further multiplied withthe sequence R′₂ like that in FIG. 9; instead, the information symbolsd_(i) are implicitly indicated by the relationship between the sequenceR′₁ and the sequence R′₂. Then, the R′₂ is transmitted with DMRSsequence R′₁.

FIG. 20 schematically illustrates a new PUCCH structure in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the informationsymbols d_(i) are implicitly indicated by the relationship between thesequence R′₁ and the sequence R′₂ and the reference signal and the ULcontrol information such as ACK/NACK are staggered-multiplexed in thefrequency domain.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, in this embodiment of the present disclosure,the base sequences 1 and 2 have the same length of N. The two sequencesR₁ and R₂ may be different, or transformed, cyclic shifted orphase-rotated from the same base sequence. The base sequences 1 and 2may be for examples the base sequence as illustrated in FIG. 6. However,it is to be appreciated that other base sequence is also possible. ThePUCCH (for example ACK/NACK) bits {0, 1} are first modulated into PUCCHsymbol after constellation mapping, for example as BPSK {+1, −1}. Thenthe modulated symbol is implicitly indicated by the relationship of thesequences R′₁ and R′₂. The relationship may be for example reflected bycyclic shift which can be expressed as below:

R′ _(n) =e ^(jan) R _(n), 0≤n≤11 α=2πk/12, 0≤k≤11

For the sequences R′₁ and R′₂, they can use different cycle shifts,which may be expressed by the following equations:

e^(j2πk1/12)R_(n), e^(j2πk1/12)R_(n)

wherein k1 and k2 are the CS index of R_(n). If k1−2=6, it indicatesthat the information symbol is +1; if K1−K2=−6, it indicates that theinformation symbol is −1. In such a way, the PUCCH information symbolcan be implicitly indicated by the relationship between the sequencesR′₁ and R′₂. In such a case, the total number of REs for implicatingtransmitting PUCCH is 24 (2N).

The PUCCH mapping and multiplexing can be similar to the embodiment asillustrated in FIG. 9 and thus for details, one may refer FIGS. 10 to18.

FIG. 21 to FIG. 22 further illustrate a further possible solution forDMRS and PUCCH information transmission in accordance with a furtherembodiment of the present disclosure, in which sequences are dividedinto k different groups and the modulated PUCCH symbols are indicated bythe predefined groups.

The PUCCH information bits are denoted by d_(i), which are obtainedafter constellation mapping. If a modulation order is M, it resultingtotally 2^(M) symbols. There are Q sequences which can be used. The Qsequences are grouped into K groups (K=Q/M), each group kj correspondsto one modulation symbol, as illustrated in FIG. 21. Thus, differentsequence groups are used for different modulation symbols.

FIG. 22 further schematically illustrates constellation mapping for QPSKin accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 22, four sequence groups k1 to k4 are mapped to fourNACK/ACK symbols.

The Q sequences may be different base sequences, different cyclic shiftsof one or several base sequence, or different transformation of one orseveral base sequences, for example through a phase rotation(R1=e^(jθ)*R₂). These sequences can be staggered or continuously mappedin frequency or time domain. The total number of REs for implicitlytransmitting PUCCH information is N.

FIGS. 23 to 24 illustrate a specific embodiment of cyclic-shift groupingin accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 23,there are illustrated two different cyclic shift grouping. Asillustrated in FIG. 23, 12 cyclic shifts are divided into four groupswhich are illustrated by different patterns. The 12 cyclic shifts can beexpressed as:

R′ _(n) =e ^(jαn) R _(n), 0≤n≤11 α=2πk/12, 0≤k≤11

In one possible grouping, cyclic shifts 0 to 2 are divided into thefirst group, cyclic shifts 3 to 5 are divided into the second group,cyclic shifts 6 to 8 are divided into the third group, and cyclic shifts9 to 11 are divided into the fourth group. FIG. 24 schematicallyillustrates ACK/NACK constellation mapping corresponding to the examplecyclic-shift grouping as illustrated in FIG. 21 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 24, thefour cyclic shift groups are respectively mapped to QPSK {+1, −1, +j,−j}.

Besides, FIG. 23 also illustrates another possible grouping, in whichcyclic shifts 0, 4, 8 are divided into the first group, cyclic shifts 1,5, 9 are divided into the second group, cyclic shifts 2, 6, 10 aredivided into the third group, cyclic shifts 3, 7 to 11 are divided intothe fourth group. It is to be appreciated that, in addition to theexample possible groupings, the cyclic shifts can be divided in anyother suitable manner. In such a way, different cyclic shift groups canbe used to indicate different PUCCH symbols. Moreover, different UE mayuse different cyclic shifts in a cyclic shift group to indicate theirown PUCCH symbols. In a case the base sequence is 12, the total numberof REs for implicitly transmitting PUCCH is 12.

FIG. 25 schematically illustrates a new PUCCH structure in accordancewith one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the PUCCHinformation symbol is implicitly indicated by R′n with a predeterminedtransformation such phase rotation (PR) or cyclic shift (CS). The R′nwill be mapped to physical resource and transmitted in the UL symbol.

It is to be appreciated that the PUCCH information can be mapped to Lsymbols (L>=1) wherein L can be pre-defined value. The L can bedynamically or semi-statically informed by a base station, such as eNB;and in such a case, it may provide bits in dynamic control region or RRCmessage. In addition, the PUCCH resource index can be also pre-definedor informed dynamically or semi-statically by the eNB. It is to be notedthat sequences and/or mapping orders can be different or same in PRBs orsymbols; and OCC, phase rotation, etc. can be used in PRBs or symbols.

Additionally, subcarrier spacing for PUCCH can be different with othersymbols. It is also possible to use a new modulation; for example,constant modulus can be used, such as 8 PSK for maintaining low PAPR inone or several symbols. Moreover, the sequence length for PUCCH can beadapted with different payload.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, PUCCH can be classified intogroups, some are modulated on ZC/PN sequence or expressed with cyclicshift, and others are expressed with different sequences or notmodulated on a sequence as illustrated in FIGS. 26A and 26B. Usually,the important PUCCH information can be modulated with DMRS sequences toobtain accuracy results. For example, ACK/NACK is more important thanCSI, and thus, it may be modulated on ZC/PN sequence or expressed withcyclic shift. By contrast, the CSI is less important and thus, CSI canbe not modulated on ZC/PN sequence. The ZC/PN sequence for ACK/NACK canbe used as demodulation RS for CSI which may obtain additional benefitsfor some PUCCH without an available reference signal. In a case, the ULcontrol information and the reference signal might be transmitted withdifferent time periods, in another case, not all UL control informationis transmitted together with a reference signal. However, in either ofthe two cases, there might some PUCCH without an available referencesignal. In such a case, it is possible to use previous reference signal,for example the one which is nearest thereto. As an alternative option,it may also use a sequence for previous control information since thereceived sequence per se carries the channel information, which may beused as RS for other PUCCH. In a special embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the reference signal for UL control information without anavailable reference signal can be determined dependent on a timedistance from the previous reference signal and the previous controlinformation to the UL control information without an available referencesignal. That is to say, if the PUCCH has a shorter time distance fromthe previous PUCCH than the previous RS, it may use the sequence for theprevious PUCCH as the reference signal for the PUCCH. Thus, it ispossible to obtain PUCCH information with a high accuracy. This solutioncan be used with any of PUCCH transmission solution as mentionedhereinabove so as to achieve higher accuracy.

FIG. 27A illustrates one possible UL region design in accordance withembodiment of the present disclosure. It is assumed that there are Nsymbols for UL, M symbols for UL control (PUCCH), and L symbols for DMRS(L>=0). In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or severalsymbols/PRBs can be modulated on ZC/PN sequence or modulated with cyclicshift of ZC/PN sequence. As illustrated in FIG. 27A, For M symbolsPUCCH, K symbols can be modulated on ZC/PN sequence or modulated withcyclic shift of ZC/PN sequence (K>=0); other M-K symbols can be any kindof control information. FIG. 27B also illustrate another possible ULregion design in accordance with embodiment of the present disclosure,wherein there is one symbol for DMRS and one symbol for modulated PUCCH.DMRS and/or PUCCH symbols can be continuous or staggered. It is to benoted that position of DMRS, PUCCH and data can be different from thoseillustrated in FIGS. 27A and 27B.

Besides, in embodiments of the present disclosure, there can be providedone or more DMRS in a window time for demodulation as illustrated inFIGS. 28A to 28C. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in thewindow time, there can be several subframes as illustrated in FIG. 28A,or several symbols as illustrated in FIG. 28B or it may be a hybrid ofthe previous solutions as illustrated in FIG. 28C. The window time valuecan be pre-defined or dynamically/semi-statically informed.

Hereinbefore, description is mainly made to the solution of ULinformation transmission. In the present disclosure, there is alsoprovided a method of receiving UL information, which will described withreference FIG. 29.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, the method 2900 may start from step 2910, inwhich a reference signal transmitted using a first sequence is firstreceived. The first sequence for the reference signal may have a basesequence as illustrated in FIG. 6, may be one of the sequences asillustrated in FIG. 11 or any other sequence with frequency-domainorthogonality. The first reference signal can be a sequence transformedfrom a base sequence through cyclic shifting, phase rotation or anyother transformation. Moreover, the reference signal may be for examplea DMRS signal or any other reference signal.

In step 2920, control information transmitted using a second sequence isreceived. Similarly, the second sequence for the control information canhave a base sequence as illustrated in FIG. 6, may be one of thesequences FIG. 11, or any other sequence with frequency-domainorthogonality. The second reference signal can be a sequence transformedfrom a base sequence through cyclic shifting, phase rotation or anyother transformation. The first sequence and the second sequence may beidentical or share the same base sequence. Or alternatively, the firstsequence and the second sequence have different base sequences with sameor different lengths. For example, the first sequence may have the basesequence as illustrated in FIG. 6, while the second sequence may be oneof the sequences as illustrated in FIG. 11. The control information maybe PUCCH information, such as NACK/ACK, or CQI, PMI, RI, etc.

Next in step S2930, the control information is demodulated using thereference signal. Particularly, the reference signal and the UL controlinformation are staggered-multiplexed in frequency domain. In oneembodiment of the present disclosure, the demodulating the controlinformation may further comprise obtaining the UL control informationusing channel information together with the second sequence, wherein thechannel information is obtained from the reference signal by using thefirst sequence. That is to say, the channel information will be firstobtained from the reference signal based on the first sequence and thena control information bit can be obtained by demodulating the receivedcontrol information based on the channel information and the secondsequence.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the demodulating thecontrol information may further comprise: obtaining the second sequenceusing channel information, wherein the channel information is obtainedfrom the reference signal by using the first sequence; and obtaining thecontrol information based on a relationship between the first sequenceand the second sequence. In such a case, after obtaining the channelinformation based on the reference signal, the second sequence can befurther obtained based on the channel information, then it furtherdetermines the relationship between the first sequence and the secondsequence, which implicitly indicates the control information. Therefore,in this embodiment, the information bit is transmitted in an implicitway; in other words, the information bit itself is not multiplexed withthe second sequence but be implicitly indicated by the first sequenceand the second sequence.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the reference signal and theUL control information are staggered-multiplexed in many different ways.For example, the reference signal and the UL control information can bestaggered-multiplexed every one resource element with one referencesignal for one piece of UL control information. As another option, thereference signal and the UL control information can bestaggered-multiplexed every more than one resource element with onereference signal shared by more than one piece of the UL controlinformation.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the UL control information andthe reference signal are mapped in any suitable manner. For example, theUL control information and the reference signal can be mapped at bothedges of system bandwidth. Additionally or alternatively, the UL controlinformation and the reference signal can hop in two symbols.

In an embodiment in which the UL control information and the referencesignal are transmitted with different time periods or not all UL controlinformation is transmitted together with a reference signal, one of aprevious reference signal and a sequence for previous controlinformation can be used as a reference signal for demodulating ULcontrol information without an available reference signal. In such acase, the method may further comprise determining the reference signalfor UL control information without an available reference signaldependent on a time distance from the previous reference signal and theprevious control information to the UL control information without anavailable reference signal.

Some details about the PUCCH design, the first sequence, the secondsequence, the staggering-multiplexing, resource mapping and so on arealready described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 28 and thusthese details will not be elaborated herein for simplification purposesand for details about them, please see the description with reference toFIGS. 8 to 28.

With embodiments of the present disclosure, it provides a new solutionfor UL transmission and receiving in which the uplink information can betransmitted in reduced uplink symbols so as to adapt for a subframestructure with reduced uplink symbols and thus, the transmission latencycan be reduced greatly.

FIG. 30 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus fortransmitting UL information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 30, the apparatus 3000comprises a reference signal transmission unit 3010, and a controlinformation transmission unit 3020. The reference signal transmissionunit 3010 may be configured for transmitting reference signal using afirst sequence. The control information transmission unit 3020 may beconfigured for transmitting UL control information using a secondsequence. Particularly, the reference signal and the UL controlinformation are staggered-multiplexed in frequency domain.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UL control informationis modulated based on the second sequence, that it to say a bit of theUL control information will be transmitted implicitly. In anotherembodiment of the present disclosure, the first sequence and the secondsequence may have a predetermined relationship which is used toimplicitly indicate the UL control information.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the first sequence and thesecond sequence are identical or share the same base sequence. Oralternatively, the first sequence and the second sequence can havedifferent base sequences.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the reference signal and theUL control information can be staggered-multiplexed in any suitablemanner. For example, the reference signal and the UL control informationcan be staggered-multiplexed every one resource element with onereference signal for one piece of UL control information, or thereference signal and the UL control information can bestaggered-multiplexed every more than one resource element with onereference signal shared by more than one piece of the UL controlinformation.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the reference signal and theUL control information can be mapped in any suitable manner. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the UL control information and thereference signal are mapped at both edges of system bandwidth. Inanother embodiment of the present disclosure, the UL control informationand the reference signal are hopping in two symbols.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UL control informationand the reference signal can be transmitted with different time periods.In another embodiment of the present disclosure, not all UL controlinformation is transmitted together with a reference signal. In bothcases, it means that there is some UL control information without anavailable reference signal. In such case, one of a previous referencesignal and a sequence for previous control information can be used as areference signal for UL control information without an availablereference signal. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thereference signal for UL control information without an availablereference signal may be dependent on a time distance from the previousreference signal and the previous control information to the UL controlinformation without an available reference signal.

FIG. 31 further illustrates an apparatus for receiving UL information.As illustrated in FIG. 31, the apparatus 3100 comprises: referencesignal receiving unit 3110, and a control information receiving unit3120 and a demodulation unit 3130. The reference signal receiving unit3110 may be configured for receiving reference signal transmitted usinga first sequence. The control information receiving unit 3120 may beconfigured for receiving control information transmitted using a secondsequence. The demodulation unit 3130 may be configured for demodulatingthe control information using the reference signal. Particularly, thereference signal and the UL control information arestaggered-multiplexed in frequency domain.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the demodulating unit 3130is further configured for obtaining the UL control information usingchannel information together with the second sequence, wherein thechannel information is obtained from the reference signal by using thefirst sequence.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the demodulating unit3130 may be further configured for: obtaining the second sequence usingchannel information, wherein the channel information is obtained fromthe reference signal by using the first sequence; and obtaining thecontrol information based on a relationship between the first sequenceand the second sequence.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first sequence and thesecond sequence can be identical or share the same base sequence. Inanother embodiment of the present disclosure, the first sequence and thesecond sequence can have different base sequences.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference signal and theUL control information are staggered-multiplexed every one resourceelement with one reference signal for one piece of UL controlinformation. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, thereference signal and the UL control information arestaggered-multiplexed every more than one resource element with onereference signal shared by more than one piece of the UL controlinformation.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the UL controlinformation and the reference signal are mapped at both edges of systembandwidth. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the ULcontrol information and the reference signal can hop in two symbols.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one of a previous referencesignal and a sequence for previous control information can be used as areference signal for demodulating UL control information without anavailable reference signal. In such a case, the apparatus 3100 mayfurther comprise: a reference signal determination unit 3140 configuredfor determining the reference signal for UL control information withoutan available reference signal dependent on a time distance from theprevious reference signal and the previous control information to the ULcontrol information without an available reference signal.

Hereinbefore, the apparatuses 3000 and 3100 are described in brief withreference to FIGS. 30 and 31. It is noted that the apparatuses 3000 and3100 may be configured to implement functionalities as described withreference to FIGS. 8 to 29. Therefore, for details about the operationsof modules in these apparatuses, one may refer to those descriptionsmade with respect to the respective steps of the methods with referenceto FIGS. 8 to 29.

It is further noted that the components of the apparatuses 3000 and 3100may be embodied in hardware, software, firmware, and/or any combinationthereof. For example, the components of apparatuses 3000 and 3100 may berespectively implemented by a circuit, a processor or any otherappropriate selection device. Those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the aforesaid examples are only for illustration not forlimitation.

In some embodiment of the present disclosure, apparatuses 3000 and 3100may comprise at least one processor. The at least one processor suitablefor use with embodiments of the present disclosure may include, by wayof example, both general and special purpose processors already known ordeveloped in the future. Apparatuses 3000 and 3100 may further compriseat least one memory. The at least one memory may include, for example,semiconductor memory devices, e.g., RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices. The at least one memory may be used to store program ofcomputer executable instructions. The program can be written in anyhigh-level and/or low-level compliable or interpretable programminglanguages. In accordance with embodiments, the computer executableinstructions may be configured, with the at least one processor, tocause apparatuses 3000 and 3100 to at least perform operations accordingto the method as discussed with reference to FIGS. 8 to 29 respectively.

FIG. 32 further illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus3210 that may be embodied as or comprised in a terminal device such asUE for a wireless network in a wireless network and an apparatus 3220that may be embodied as or comprised in a base station such as NB or eNBas described herein.

The apparatus 3210 comprises at least one processor 3211, such as a dataprocessor (DP) and at least one memory (MEM) 3212 coupled to theprocessor 3211. The apparatus 3210 may further comprise a transmitter TXand receiver RX 3213 coupled to the processor 3211, which may beoperable to communicatively connect to the apparatus 3220. The MEM 3212stores a program (PROG) 3214. The PROG 3214 may include instructionsthat, when executed on the associated processor 3211, enable theapparatus 3210 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, for example to perform the method 800. A combinationof the at least one processor 3211 and the at least one MEM 3212 mayform processing means 3215 adapted to implement various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

The apparatus 3220 comprises at least one processor 3221, such as a DP,and at least one MEM 3222 coupled to the processor 3221. The apparatus3220 may further comprise a suitable TX/RX 3223 coupled to the processor3221, which may be operable for wireless communication with theapparatus 3210. The MEM 3222 stores a PROG 3224. The PROG 3224 mayinclude instructions that, when executed on the associated processor3221, enable the apparatus 3220 to operate in accordance with theembodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform the method2900. A combination of the at least one processor 3221 and the at leastone MEM 3222 may form processing means 3225 adapted to implement variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented bycomputer program executable by one or more of the processors 3211, 3221,software, firmware, hardware or in a combination thereof.

The MEMs 3212 and 3222 may be of any type suitable to the localtechnical environment and may be implemented using any suitable datastorage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magneticmemory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixedmemory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples.

The processors 3211 and 3321 may be of any type suitable to the localtechnical environment, and may include one or more of general purposecomputers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signalprocessors DSPs and processors based on multicore processorarchitecture, as non-limiting examples.

In addition, the present disclosure may also provide a carriercontaining the computer program as mentioned above, wherein the carrieris one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, orcomputer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage mediumcan be, for example, an optical compact disk or an electronic memorydevice like a RAM (random access memory), a ROM (read only memory),Flash memory, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blue-ray disc and the like.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means sothat an apparatus implementing one or more functions of a correspondingapparatus described with one embodiment comprises not only prior artmeans, but also means for implementing the one or more functions of thecorresponding apparatus described with the embodiment and it maycomprise separate means for each separate function, or means that may beconfigured to perform two or more functions. For example, thesetechniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more apparatuses),firmware (one or more apparatuses), software (one or more modules), orcombinations thereof. For a firmware or software, implementation may bemade through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein.

Exemplary embodiments herein have been described above with reference toblock diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods and apparatuses.It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams andflowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implementedby various means including computer program instructions. These computerprogram instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer,special purpose computer, or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which executeon the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus createmeans for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block orblocks.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyimplementation or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures that may be specific to particular embodiments of particularimplementations. Certain features that are described in thisspecification in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as thetechnology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in variousways. The above described embodiments are given for describing ratherthan limiting the disclosure, and it is to be understood thatmodifications and variations may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure as those skilled in the artreadily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered tobe within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. Theprotection scope of the disclosure is defined by the accompanyingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a base station, the methodcomprising: transmitting to a User Equipment (UE), in a Radio ResourceControl (RRC) signaling, a parameter indicating a number of symbols fora first type of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH); and receivingfrom the UE, the first type of PUCCH with a first sequence, wherein: thefirst sequence is defined by an equation e^(jαn)R(n), 0≤n≤11, R(n) is abase sequence, and α is defined by an equation α=2πk/12, 0≤k≤11, a valueof k corresponding to a two bit-pair of values of Hybrid AutomaticRepeat Request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information bits, andwherein each bit of the HARQ-ACK information bits is: 0 representing anegative acknowledgement (NACK), or 1 representing a positiveacknowledgement (ACK).
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:interpreting at least either the NACK or the ACK of the two bit-pair ofthe values of HARQ-ACK information bits from the first sequence.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the base sequence is defined by aformula R(n)=e^(jφ(n)π/4), and wherein values of φ(n) vary among −1, 1,−3, or 3 depending on value of n.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the first sequence is mapped to resource elements without beingmultiplied with symbols modulated from the HARQ-ACK information bits. 5.The method according to claim 1, wherein the PUCCH is received withoutfrequency-domain multiplexing with a Demodulation Reference Signal(DMRS).
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the PUCCH isreceived without time-domain multiplexing with the DMRS.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the value of k corresponds to the twobit-pair of the values of HARQ-ACK information bits within a same symbolin time domain.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein each valueof k corresponding to a single two bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACKinformation bits is UE specific within a same symbol in time domain. 9.The method according to claim 1, wherein: a first two bit-pair of valuesof HARQ-ACK information bits to which one of values of k among {0, 1, 2}corresponds, a second two bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK informationbits to which one of values of k among {3, 4, 5} corresponds, a thirdtwo bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bits to which one ofvalues of k among {6, 7, 8} corresponds, and a fourth two bit-pair ofvalues of HARQ-ACK information bits to which one of values of k among{9, 10, 11} corresponds, are different from each other within a samesymbol in time domain.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein adifference between: a first value of k corresponding to a first twobit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bits indicated by 00; and asecond value of k corresponding to a second two bit-pair of values ofHARQ-ACK information bits different from 00, is a multiple of
 3. 11. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the number of symbols is 1 or 2.12. The method according to claim 1, wherein α is a cyclic shift.
 13. Abase station comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit to a UserEquipment (UE), in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, a parameterindicating a number of symbols for a first type of Physical UplinkControl Channel (PUCCH); and a receiver configured to receive from theUE, the first type of PUCCH with a first sequence, wherein: the firstsequence is defined by an equation e^(jαn)R(n), 0≤n≤11, R(n) is a basesequence, and α is defined by an equation α=2πk/12, a value of kcorresponding to a two bit-pair of values of Hybrid Automatic RepeatRequest (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information bits, and wherein eachbit of the HARQ-ACK information bits is: 0 representing a negativeacknowledgement (NACK), or 1 representing a positive acknowledgement(ACK).
 14. The base station of claim 13, further comprising: acontroller configured to interpret at least either the NACK or the ACKof the two bit-pair of the values of HARQ-ACK information bits from thefirst sequence.
 15. The base station according to claim 13, wherein thebase sequence is defined by a formula R(n)=e^(jφ(n)π4), and whereinvalues of φ(n) vary among −1, 1, −3, or 3 depending on value of n. 16.The base station according to claim 13, wherein the first sequence ismapped to resource elements without being multiplied with symbolsmodulated from the HARQ-ACK information bits.
 17. The base stationaccording to claim 13, wherein the PUCCH is received withoutfrequency-domain multiplexing with a Demodulation Reference Signal(DMRS).
 18. The base station according to claim 17, wherein the PUCCH isreceived without time-domain multiplexing with the DMRS.
 19. The basestation according to claim 13, wherein the value of k corresponds to thetwo bit-pair of the values of HARQ-ACK information bits within a samesymbol in time domain.
 20. The base station according to claim 13,wherein each value of k corresponding to a single two bit-pair of valuesof HARQ-ACK information bits is UE specific within a same symbol in timedomain.
 21. The base station according to claim 13, wherein: a first twobit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bits to which one of valuesof k among {0, 1, 2} corresponds, a second two bit-pair of values ofHARQ-ACK information bits to which one of values of k among {3, 4, 5}corresponds, a third two bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bitsto which one of values of k among {6, 7, 8} corresponds, and a fourthtwo bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bits to which one ofvalues of k among {9, 10, 11} corresponds, are different from each otherwithin a same symbol in time domain.
 22. The base station according toclaim 13, wherein a difference between: a first value of k correspondingto a first two bit-pair of values of HARQ-ACK information bits indicatedby 00; and a second value of k corresponding to a second two bit-pair ofvalues of HARQ-ACK information bits different from 00, is a multiple of3.
 23. The base station according to claim 13, wherein the number ofsymbols is 1 or
 2. 24. The base station according to claim 13, wherein αis a cyclic shift.